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With market over-flowing with credit cards offering attractive membership rewards program, it is certainly not an easy job for Australians to make a choice. All of us have a clue that these lucrative deals have several clauses attached to them. We just need to make a smart choice so that it can save us some good money. As a result of recession and die-hard competition, all financial institutions of Australia  are working hard to attract customers towards their rewards offers.

You will be surprised to calculate the amount of money you can save by choosing an appropriate card offering the membership rewards programs you are looking for. These programs include an array of domains – travel cards, gas cards, entertainment cards etc. You just need to assess your requirement and start comparing the various programs so that you can steal the best deal.

Before we delve into the features of a good, cheap membership reward program, be clear to assess if you really need a rewards card. You will only be benefitted by such programs if you can use it in place of dollars and if you do pay your credit cards’ bills on time else all the benefit of rewards programs will be overshadowed by the high interest rates charged to your statement.

Now, when comparing several membership rewards programs, look at the joining fee, annual fee, and any other add-on fees. Generally, the no-annual fee cards are the best choice. Next, look at the co-brands of the card for example, if you are a frequent traveler, choose a flyer membership card and accordingly. Also, finely compare the number of reward points the cards offer on each dollar you spend. In addition to this, pay equal emphasis on the dollar value these cards assign to these earned reward points. The higher the point’s value, the better. You should also read other terms and conditions carefully. For example, a few programs have a set expiry date before which you need to use the reward else you will lose it. Also look at the flexibility options provided by these programs. For example, if mile points are given on only co-brands or all the airlines. The flexibility you need helps you choose the cheapest card available. So, compare carefully and make a wise choice. All the best!!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 10:51 am and is filed under Frequent Flyer, Rewards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.